ALLAN HOUSTON IS NOT DEAD YET

Allan Houston just re-signed with the Knicks. Now any other blogger would say “the joke writes itself here, I thought Isiah Thomas got fired, huh-huh,” but that’s not the dimension of humor that I really appreciate, so I’ll write a joke anyway. John McCain and Allan Houston walk into a bar and McCain asks, “How do you get white kids to stop jumping on the bed?” And Allan replies, “White kids can jump?”

To the excerpt!

Forced to retire in October 2005 because of knee pain, Houston briefly tried a comeback last year with the Knicks. He didn’t join the team until 10 days after practices began following the birth of a child, then played in only one exhibition game before ending his long-shot bid to make the team.

He’ll be there from the start this time, but making the roster would still be difficult. Now 37, Houston hasn’t played in an NBA game since 2005 and would have to show that his knees can handle the running involved in new coach Mike D’Antoni’s uptempo system.

Houston will also wear No. 14, provided he actually stays on the team long enough for the equipment staff to stitch his name on a jersey. That’s assuming Allan doesn’t do it himself; I’m sure that retirement has helped his needlework improve immensely.